Cricket Crate is the newest member of the KiwiCo family that’s specifically curated for babies 0-36 months old. Cricket Crate aims to lay the foundation for lifelong learning through educational toys, books and other baby essentials delivered to your child each month. The subscription costs $19.95 per month, just like the other crates from KiwiCo.
This month’s all about Forest Friends.
Note: Cricket Crate is available in three versions — The Newborn Pack is designed for babies of around 0-3 months old. It comprises a storybook, baby-friendly toy, and some reading for parents that highlights developmental milestones and other items of interest. This review covers the version designed for 24-36-month-old kids, which started shipping in November 2017. They are also launching an intermediate version for kids ages 4-23 months. Look for that to be available soon!
For a limited time use coupon code HelloCricketBundle50 to save 50% off the price of the Newborn Pack or just use this link!
DEAL: Use this link to save 30% on your first month of Tadpole Crate!
Wonder Magazine
Wonder Magazine is full of practical advice and developmentally appropriate bonding tips, which are great for new and veteran moms, dads, and other caregivers!
There’s a parenting advice column and a brief overview of the magazine’s contents…
…as well as tips for play time!
All of the KiwiCo family of boxes strive to mix educational content with fun activities. Much of the learning is geared toward developing basic skills like motor coordination. There is lots of great info for parents to read — it really adds some insight into the growth your child is experiencing.
Because the target age for Cricket Crate is so young, the focus is all on providing information and support for parents, and the activities are geared toward providing quality bonding time between baby and parent.
There were also activity suggestions for some real-world adventures to have with your child, complete with ideas for tying in the lessons from the Crate activity.
Cricket Crate Bookmark & Board Book (Bonus Upgrade!)
The book for this month is entitled Cricket Campfire Concert.
When the Cricket’s camping trip is interrupted by strange sounds, like CROAK and HOOT, she must travel into the forest to discover the source.
Can you guess what made those sounds?
The illustrations are really cute, making the story even more engaging.
Cricket Crate Materials & Activities
Everything inside my box!
Forest Puppets. The first activity is about making owl and bear puppets for creative pretend play.
We need felt animal stickers, brown and blue pouches, and carton stands for this activity.
This activity helps develop communication, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills. I let my son put the felt sticker on the pouch, then the puppet is ready for pretend play!
For additional pretend play props, you can make your own by downloading the printable items at cricketcrate.com/forest.
Forest Friends Game. Aside from pretend play, there’s also a game you can play using the puppets. In this game, the youngest player will be the first one to play and each player will start by picking up one token at a time.
The tokens are either a log or a number: The number of token will indicate the number of step each puppet needs to reach home, while the logs are used to cross the river to reach home.
Only the logs are qualified to be put on the river and the number token should be returned to the pouch once used.
The first puppet to cross the river and reach home will be the winner. This game helps develop number recognition skills, as well as counting, directionality, and turn-taking.
Tree Hollow. The next activity is about making a cozy tree hollow made from the felt materials included in the crate.
The tree can serve as a house for the owl and bear puppets. It can be placed on your game board too. Or used as a cute little bag by your little one!
My son found it easy to make the tree. He just added felt leaves and attached the handle, then the hollow is ready to be used!
My older son joined my younger son in reading our newest Cricket Book, The Cricket Campfire Concert! It was fun!
My son always gets excited about Cricket Crate, and this month isn’t an exception. Cricket Crate never fails to provide fun activities with complete materials, instructions, and even additional tips. He did the activities this month in a breeze, because most of them required only a few easy steps. Of course, the kids had fun playing the Forest Friend game too. This subscription is really intended for 2-3 years old kids who are mostly interested in just playing and having fun, so it’s a great thing that the materials are both fun and educational at the same time!
By the way, starting May they are changing the name of Cricket Crate to Tadpole Crate.
Other than the name change – and adding a new friend to the mix – nothing else about the product experience is different. We’re still dedicated to developing amazing products that are obsessively thoughtful, profoundly enriching – and seriously fun.
What do you think of this month’s Cricket Crate?
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